Monday, August 22, 2016

The unfairness of Olympic swimming

I have never been a big fan of the Olympics, probably because there are so many sports there that really aren't, like those weird trick snowboarding events in the winter, or synchronized swimming in the summer. Not to mention the figure skating. But a lot of the events also seem a little unfair.Take these poor slobs who compete in basketball, soccer, or water polo - they can spend an entire Olympics, with hours of playing time across multiple games, in the pursuit of a single medal. Meanwhile, some kid by the name of Michael Phelps can spend a mere 8 minutes in the water, and walk home with 6 medals to show for it. It just doesn't seem fair.And that doesn't even include the fact that most of his medals are earned doing the same damn thing. For example, they have a 100M backstroke, and a 200M backstroke, as well as a 4x100M backstroke and a 4x200M backstroke - I gotta give mad props to the swimming lobby for making up 4 "different" competitions for the same stroke. Maybe Donald Trump should hire their marketing team.Now don't get me wrong - sure, Michael Phelps is a great athlete, most decorated Olympian of all time, yadda yadda. Happy to see him help the US dominate the medal count, etc. But let's face it; when a clown like Ryan Lochte can win a gold medal at it, that doesn't say much for its merits as sport. Just sayin'.